


Militia of Aperture

by CanineR7A7



Category: Portal (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Human, Aperture is slightly less twisted, But you already knew that, Chell Needs a Hug, How do tag?, Hurt/Comfort, Mute Chell (Portal), Other, Selectively Mute Mel, only slightly
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-06
Updated: 2019-05-06
Packaged: 2020-02-27 04:36:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,012
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18731728
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CanineR7A7/pseuds/CanineR7A7
Summary: Everyone knows about the legend of Aperture, the civilisation that formed deep below the ground; whether they believe in it or not, one thing is clear, those who seek to find Aperture never return. As the only one above-ground who knows the legend is true, Chell’s life is an existence filled with hiding from would-be adventurers. What happens when she runs out of places to hide? And this group won’t take no for an answer.





	Militia of Aperture

The apartment complex wasn’t anything special, the kind of place people would drive past thanking whatever God was out there that they were lucky enough not to live there. Not her. True, she could’ve probably got a better place with the money she’d been _given_ but she didn’t want to waste any in case she had to relocate _again._

 

“Chell? You there?” A voice called from her front door, she headed over and unlatched the rusty chain that was supposed to keep the door locked. The lock had been broken for months and it wasn’t as though she had anything worth stealing, nothing she kept _in_ the apartment anyway. Ranger walked in as soon as he’d heard the chain drop, Chell didn’t mind it as much as she probably should. Ranger had been nice enough to her and was probably the only person who knew her actual story, at least the only one who lived near enough to do anything with it.

 

“You’ll be pleased to know there aren’t any scavengers yet.” She merely nodded, ‘scavengers’ could mean anything but Ranger would only use the word to refer to three kinds of people; people who scoured the miles of nothingness between the rundown town they lived in and one of the places that people generally passed through for, thieves, or people looking for Aperture. She shuddered at the thought of the last one, the last time someone found out Aperture was real and that she came from there she’d lost her voice, she wasn’t willing to lose anything else.

 

“In other news, I got a call recently so I’m going to be out of town for a while.” Right, the town wasn’t exactly small but there wasn’t enough work here for everyone. She’d got lucky when she’d managed to get a low-pay job near her apartment, Ranger on the other hand had to routinely travel to the nearest city which meant a full day’s worth of travelling. She was glad she’d got used to communicating with people without having to rely on him translating her rough hand gestures.

 

“So, since we both have the day off, how ‘bout we get something to eat?” She nodded and motioned for him to wait; she headed to her room and grabbed the thin scarf he’d bought her when she first arrived here. The weather wasn’t really cold enough for a scarf but she didn’t really want to have to deal with people asking about the scar. He smiled when she returned.

 

“Beautiful as always babe.” She exhaled sharply; it was the only way she could laugh now. They weren’t together despite what some people thought, they viewed each other as siblings; Ranger fulfilled his role as the over-protective brother well, a side-effect of what became of his family. She didn’t know what had happened but she could guess that things didn’t end well. No, the relationship thing was merely an inside joke between them. His arm draped naturally over her shoulders when they left the apartment complex, her’s drifting around his waist, they both held their laughter as people started muttering about them – they vehemently denied that they were a couple when asked about it, but made a point to act as couply – was that even a word? – as possible when in public.

 

“Probably should’ve asked before we left your place but do you want fast-food, or should we actually go somewhere?” She merely gestured to the burger joint they were close to, she didn’t really mind what they had, besides she knew Ranger would insist on paying and he was pretty much always broke. She’d offered him some money before but he’d refused it.

 

“I’ll go and get our usual, wait here?” She nodded and watched him walk into the small building, there wasn’t really much point in both of them going and it’s not like the till operator had the time to try and translate her hand gestures. She leaned back against the wall, gaze sweeping across the few pedestrians that were wandering around. They all had the same worn out appearance, it wasn’t really surprising, there wasn’t much to be happy about; the cinema and other entertainment establishments had been closed down when most of the residents had to move for work, if she remembered rightly, there were only three people who lived in her apartment complex; including Ranger and herself, they could have entire floors to themselves if they wanted but neither of them could be bothered to deal with the hassle that could cause.

 

“One plain cheeseburger for the lady.” She smiled when she heard Ranger’s voice, gratefully accepting the paper bag when he handed it to her, his own abomination of chicken, gherkins, cheese and hot sauce already being eaten. He did it on purpose, purely to see the looks of horror on the other customers’ faces; though how he managed to eat it without throwing up was another matter entirely.

 

“We’ve gained a shadow.” She barely caught what he said and quickly glanced out the corner of her eye, sure enough there was someone watching them from a nearby bench. Others might excuse the person as another resident, while that was true; he was one of the people who was quite vocal in his beliefs that Aperture was real. She’d spent her first few weeks here trying to avoid him while he walked around claiming she was from Aperture with nothing to back his claims other than the fact she’d more or less appeared out of nowhere. He’d backed off after she and Ranger had come up with a somewhat normal backstory for her; somewhat because they couldn’t just use any excuse to explain the scar if someone saw it. She traced a question mark on her burger wrapper, knowing anyone else would assume she was just wiping up some sauce. Ranger grabbed her hand, the two of them being careful to avoid looking at the man for too long.

 

“Let’s get back to the apartment.” Translation, _you’re coming to my apartment until I know you’ll be safe._


End file.
